Final Nomination Results: a ranked list of the 69 titles nominated by Heavy Medal readers
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Our final round of nominations is closed, and we’ve got quite a list. A total of 69 books were named by readers, each of whom was allowed to nominate 7 titles (not everyone named the full 7). About 60% of the titles received 1 or 2 nominations. 10 books were nominated at least 8 times (that’s about 14%). And the rest were in the middle.
Besides being a great reading list of 2021 children’s books, the list of nominations will help Emily and I to determine the 12-15 titles that will go on our Heavy Medal Book List (HMBL). We won’t necessarily select only the most frequently nominated titles, because we’ll also want to balance the list in terms of genres, formats, and styles. But we’ll definitely be looking at these numbers.
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The HMBL will be announced next week. We’ll use that list for our Heavy Medal Mock Newbery election, which includes these components:
- The Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC) members will discuss each book on the blog during late December and January. We’ll share more about the HMAC later this week.
- Readers who are not on the HMAC can also chime in with these discussions.
- The HMAC will vote on a Mock Newbery winner in late January.
- All Heavy Medal readers will do a separate vote around the same time.
Meanwhile, here is our nomination list. The 16 titles nominated for the first time in December appear in red. And the 6 books with asterisks are the “Early Six“: titles we pre-selected for inclusion on the HMBL:
| Title | Author | Total |
| * RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE | Rajani LaRocca | 19 |
| THE BEATRYCE PROPHECY | Kate DiCamillo | 16 |
| * AMBER AND CLAY | Laura Amy Schlitz | 14 |
| STARFISH | Lisa Fipps | 14 |
| THE GENIUS UNDER THE TABLE | Eugene Yelchin | 14 |
| * JUST LIKE THAT | Gary Schmidt | 13 |
| THE SHAPE OF THUNDER | Jasmine Warga | 9 |
| A PLACE TO HANG THE MOON | Kate Albus | 8 |
| LION OF MARS | Jennifer L. Holm | 8 |
| TOO BRIGHT TOO SEE | Kyle Lukoff | 8 |
| WATERCRESS | Andrea Wang | 6 |
| AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS | B.B. Alston | 5 |
| DAVINCI’S CAT | Catherine Gilbert Murdock | 5 |
| * FALLOUT | Steve Sheinkin | 5 |
| MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD | Matt de la Peña | 5 |
| * PITY PARTY | Kathleen Lane | 5 |
| BEING CLEM | Lesa-Cline Ransome | 4 |
| FRANKIE & BUG | Gayle Forman | 4 |
| * HARRY VS. THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL | Emily Jenkins | 4 |
| ONE JAR OF MAGIC | Corey Ann Haydu | 4 |
| UNSPEAKABLE: THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE | Carole Boston Weatherford | 4 |
| FINDING JUNIE KIM | Ellen Oh | 3 |
| GROUND ZERO | Alan Gratz | 3 |
| PONY | R.J. Palacio | 3 |
| RACONTEUR’S COMMONPLACE BOOK | Kate Milford | 3 |
| THE LAST CUENTISTA | Donna Barba Higuera | 3 |
| THE TROUBLED GIRLS OF DRAGOMIR ACADEMY | Anne Ursu | 3 |
| BILLY MILLER MAKES A WISH | Kevin Henkes | 2 |
| FLIGHT OF THE PUFFIN | Ann Braden | 2 |
| GONE TO THE WOODS | Gary Paulsen | 2 |
| OPHIE’S GHOSTS | Justina Ireland | 2 |
| ROOT MAGIC | Eden Royce | 2 |
| THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM | Holly Sloan | 2 |
| THE LEGEND OF AUNTIE PO | Shing Yin Khor | 2 |
| THE LIST OF UNSPEAKABLE FEARS | J. Kasper Kramer | 2 |
| THE PEOPLE REMEMBER | Ibi Zoboi | 2 |
| UNSETTLED | Reem Faruqi | 2 |
| WHILE I WAS AWAY | Waka T. Brown | 2 |
| 365 DAYS TO ALASKA | Cathy Carr | 1 |
| A SHOT IN THE ARM | Don Brown | 1 |
| ALMOST THERE AND ALMOST NOT | Linda Urban | 1 |
| ALONE | Megan E. Freeman | 1 |
| AMOS MCGEE MISSES THE BUS | Philip Stead | 1 |
| BLACK BOY JOY | Kwame Mbalia (ed) | 1 |
| BLOOD LIKE MAGIC | Liselle Sambury | 1 |
| CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS | Kaela Rivera | 1 |
| DELICATES | Brenna Thummler | 1 |
| HEALER OF THE WATER MONSTER | Brian Young | 1 |
| HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU’RE NOT LOOKING FOR | Veera Hiranandani | 1 |
| KALEIDOSCOPE | Brian Selznick | 1 |
| KATIE THE CATSITTER | Colleen Venable | 1 |
| LEGACY | Nikki Grimes | 1 |
| MANY POINTS OF ME | Caroline Gertler | 1 |
| MAYA AND THE ROBOT | Eve Ewing | 1 |
| MAYBE MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY | Erin Entrada Kelly | 1 |
| MERCI SUÀREZ CAN’T DANCE | Meg Medina | 1 |
| PAX: JOURNEY HOME | Sara Pennypacker | 1 |
| PLAYING THE CARDS YOU’RE DEALT | Varian Johnson | 1 |
| RESCUE | Jennifer A. Nielsen | 1 |
| RUNAWAY: THE DARING ESCAPE OF ONA JUDGE | Ray Anthony Shepard | 1 |
| SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA | Cynthia Leitich Smith | 1 |
| STAMPED (FOR KIDS) | Sonja Cherry Paul | 1 |
| SURVIVOR TREE | Marcie Colleen | 1 |
| THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY | Candice Fleming | 1 |
| THE ONE THING YOU’D SAVE | Linda Sue Park | 1 |
| THE WOLF’S CURSE | Jessica Vitalis | 1 |
| WE ARE STILL HERE | Traci Sorell | 1 |
| WE MUST NOT FORGET | Deborah Hopkinson | 1 |
| WILLODEEN | Katherine Applegate | 1 |
Filed under: Book Discussion, Nominations
About Steven Engelfried
Steven Engelfried was the Library Services Manager at the Wilsonville Public Library in Oregon until he retired in 2022 after 35 years as a full-time librarian. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.
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Still hoping for Ground Zero to get a Newbery nod Such a compelling story with an amazing plot twist
I agree!!!
I just want to say thank you!! So many great books I have read this year that I would not have noticed except for being mentioned or nominated on this site. It has become a place to look for book suggestions!
You’re welcome Cherylynn and I agree. This is such an awesome community and I’m looking forward to the deeper discussions to come!
What a fabulous list. I can’t wait to see how this all ends up. Thank you for creating this community to give us all the opportunity to continue to find fabulous books for our students and patrons.
I want to give a ‘shout out to author Sharon Draper and her book OUT OF MY HEART. I know this book did not make the list, and many people perhaps did not have a chance to read it yet as it was just published. (I just finished it this week, too late to nominate it). It is a sequel to OUT OF MY MIND, and follows Melody, who has Cerebral Palsy, as she navigates summer camp. The book is strong both in characterization and setting. The strength of the book is how completely the reader experiences the world of summer camp through Melody’s emotions, thoughts and perspective. It was truly a heartwarming story.
Also thank you to Steven and Emily for the wonderful book list that you compiled. I enjoyed reading so many of the books on this list, and still have a pile to read.